Sunday, March 10, 2013

The City of Seattle has launched an investigation into prevailing wage underpayments to workers involved on City-funded housing projects that are managed by non-profit housing providers. Based on a review of documentation, evidence of the underpayments has been forwarded to the Seattle Police Department for a criminal investigation.Common reasons for underpayments: Prevailing wage underpayments occur based on a number of factors:

Wage rate:Payment of less than the hourly prevailing wage rate

Classification:Improper classification of workers and paying them for a lower prevailing wage classification

Apprentices:Use of apprentices not registered in an approved training program

Number of workers:Use of additional workers not reported on payroll reports

Federally funded projects: Federally funded public works projects require that public agencies monitor prevailing wages by reviewing weekly certified payroll reports from the contractor and all subcontractors. Federal regulations also require that the public agency interview workers on the project site and correlate information obtained in the interviews with information reported on payroll reports.

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For more than 30 years, I served as a contracting manager for major public agencies in Washington State (City of Seattle, Seattle Housing Authority, and University of Washington). In addition, for more than a decade, I have provided consulting and training to more than 100 public agencies, industry associations, and businesses across the country on the managing the complex world of public procurement and contracting. In March 2015, I discontinued regular postings to Mike Purdy’s Public Contracting Blog in order to focus on speaking and writing a blog and book about U.S. presidential history. Please visit www.PresidentialHistory.com where you can sign up for a free email subscription to my Presidential History Blog. I am still providing consulting and training on public contracting issues.

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